Print media moving through a media processing device, such as a printing device, laminator, cutter or other device, is subject to lateral movement, i.e. movement which is typically perpendicular to an intended media path. When the lateral movement is sufficiently great, a portion of the media will move out of the intended media path causing a print job failure. Unfortunately, print media moving through a system including a first device, such as a printer or plotter, and a second device, such as a laminator or cutter, is particularly prone to such lateral movement. In particular, lateral drift introduced by a first device, such as a printer, may impact a second device, such as a laminator. Additionally, lateral drift from an intended media path may result as the print media moves through a buffer between the first and second devices.
Each device within the system will have tolerances with respect to lateral drift of the media. While the media is within the tolerances of each device, the system will properly process the media within each device. The success of this processing may be monitored by measuring the lateral drift of the media at desired locations along the media path. While this information is useful, it does not answer the question of whether a given print job, having been processed by a first device within a system, will be successfully processed by a second device within the system, and should be therefore be introduced into the second device.